Communicating data packets over packet networks has revolutionized both data and voice communications. As Internet and Ethernet networks have grown, so too has communications traffic. There is a limited amount of bandwidth over packet networks. To ensure that there is sufficient bandwidth for those attempting to communicate over the Internet and Ethernet networks, service providers allocate a certain amount of bandwidth for each customer. Customers can pay for different amounts of bandwidth. However, service provider contracts generally only provide for “best efforts” to ensure that each customer receives the allocated bandwidth, customers do not always receive the bandwidth they expect during times of high traffic.
Because certain applications, such as real-time telephony communications or credit card transactions, demand high quality of service, priority may be given to these applications. One way that priority is given to these applications is by setting a data field within a data packet header. One data field that is typically used for priority marking is a differentiated services or “diffserv” data field within the data packet header. In Ethernet environments, a priority field or “p-bit” data field may be set with a priority value. It is generally understood that setting the diffserv data field to a priority value is supposed to give a data packet some level of priority. The reality is that even with the priority value in the diffserv data field in a data packet header, service providers generally ignore these markings since a majority of data packets have the diffserv data field marked for priority, thereby making most data packets a priority, which, of course, makes few data packets any more of a priority than any other data packet with a priority value in a priority data field (e.g., diffserv data field). And, given that the best assurance that a service provider offers and obligated to provide both customers and other service providers is “best efforts” for quality of service, there is little, if any, recourse that a customer, network partner or other service provider can do if their priority data packets do not receive priority.